Merothrips floridensis
Nomenclatural details
Merothrips floridensis Watson, 1927: 60
Merothrips capensis Faure, 1938: 6. Synonymised by Mound & O'Neill, 1974.
Merothrips plaumanni Crawford JC, 1942: 150. Synonymised by Mound & O'Neill, 1974.
Merothrips xylophilus zur Strassen, 1959: 447. Synonymised by Mound & O'Neill, 1974.
Merothrips priesneri Bournier, 1960: 98. Synonymised by Mound & O'Neill, 1974.
Merothrips zondagi Ward, 1969: 359. Synonymised by Mound & O'Neill, 1974.
Biology and Distribution
This species is widespread around the world in leaf litter and on dead branches, and as indicated above has been described under several names due to its variation in colour, size and structure. It is common in eastern USA south of Virginia, also in California, and is known from the Caribbean and central America to southern Brazil, also Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and France.
References
Watson JR (1927) New Thysanoptera from Florida XIV. Florida Entomologist 10: 60–62.
Faure JC (1938) Descriptions of new Thysanoptera. Pretoria University Publications, Series 2, Natural Science 4: 1–20.
Crawford JC (1942) Two news South American species of Merothrips Hood (Thysanoptera: Merothripidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 44: 150–154.
zur Strassen R (1959) Studies in African Thysanoptera, 3 (With notes on oedimerous males in Terebrantia). Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 22: 436–464.
Bournier A (1960) Espèces nouvelles dans la faune thysanoptérologique des litières de feuilles de chêne vert (Quercus ilex L.). Vie et Milieu 11: 88–101.
Ward A (1969) Two new Merothrips (Thysanoptera-Merothripidae) from New Zealand. Records of the Canterbury Museum 8: 359–366.
Mound LA & O'Neill K (1974) Taxonomy of the Merothripidae, with ecological and phylogenetic considerations (Thysanoptera). Journal of Natural History 8: 481-509.
Mound LA, Tree DC & Paris D. (2012) Ozthrips – Thysanoptera in Australia. [1]
Type information
Lectotype male (M. floridensis), Florida State Arthropod Collection, Gainesville.
Holotype female (M. capensis), Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria.
Holotype female (M. plaumanni), National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Holotype female (M. xylophilus), Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt.
Holotype female (M. priesneri), Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
Holotype female (M. zondagi), New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Auckland.
